Mormon pioneer Christopher Olsen, to USA 1862
maggi	Christoffer Olsen (Kjus), born Skedsmo Norway 1807, emigrated to USA with a company of Scandinavian Latter-Day Saints (Mormons)from Hamburg, Germany on board the Athenia (Captain Schilling). The ship left Hamburg 21st or 24th April 1862, arriving in New York 9th June. The emigrants travelled west to Salt Lake in two companies with oxdrawn waggons, arriving in September the same year. What happened to Christoffer? Did he make it to Salt Lake? Did he remarry? Did he have descendants? (He left behind a wife and grown up children in Norway, he had transferred ownership of the farm to his son a few years before he emigrated. His wife regarded herself as a widow, according to Norwegian records. But a genealogy book in Norway gives Christoffers death as 1893 - the source of this information is not known.) Any information about Christoffers life in the USA would be much appreciated. Margaret Strand, Moss, Norway
boyerml	Margaret Try the Church of the Latter Day Saints genealogy website at www.familysearch.org. If your relative was a Mormon, more than likely they would have information about him in their records. I wonder if we are relatives? We are relatd to Engh from Christiania. Michele Olsen Boyer Micki
maggi	Thanks, Michelle, but the strange thing is that there's no trace of him after he emigrated. The LDS records only give his baptism in Norway and the Mormon Immigration Index gives his emigration from Norway as detailed above. However I find no trace of him in the States, no marriage, no descendants, no family tree. I don't have access to the 1870 census of Utah, which would be the ideal source to confirm if he got to Utah. There is one possible entry in the 1880 census, but not enough information on Christopher to know if he is the same person. Name and age approximately right, born Norway, with a Swedish wife Johanna. Could be him, but also possible it isn't. If it were him I'd expect his marriage to be in some of the LDS databases.
Admin	maggi Do you have names of the family (wife and sons) which stayed behind in Norway? Check out this family in the Norwegian census 1865: [url="http://digitalarkivet.uib.no/cgi-win/webcens.exe?slag=visbase&filnamn=arkivverket/ft1865/f60231&postnr=796&spraak=e"]Kjus søndre[/url]. There are several "Christophersens" and an old widdow. Did you check the passenger list for the Athenia? Could Christopher have died on the voyage?
maggi	Yes, that's his wife and some of his children on the farm in SKedsmo. The lady I'm trying to help is a direct descendant, and knows all about the family who stayed behind in Norway. The mystery is what happened to Christoffer after he left his wife and children and emigrated. She obviously regarded herself as a widow as both censuses say this, but in some other papers from a later date relating to her will her closest living relative was given as her husband Christoffer. And the family inherited a photo of him which they believe must have come from the States as he's all dressed up in nice clothes, so they don't believe he died en route. This lady has her own genealogy homepage at <www.genit.no> with information on the Kjus family and a photo of Christoffer.
Jo Anne Sadler	Found this in the 1870 census for Ephraim, Sanpete County, Utah: Christoffer Ouleson, 68, laborer, born Norway Johanna Ouleson, born Sweden John Ouleson, 14, born Sweden Found them in the 1880 census at the same location: Christopher Olsen, 75, teamster, born Norway Johanna Olsen, 68, born Sweden These census' were very limited, no info on immigration dates. The Sanpete County GenWeb - http://www.lofthouse.com/USA/Utah/sanpete/index.html is very active and has some databases online and lookup volunteers.
James E Heg	I found your ship and a passenger list. Arrival NYC from Bremen on 9 June 1862. List has 468 Passengers but only 2 from Norway. Original list appears as if recorder didn't much care where the people were from. He wrote down Denmark or Sweden and just drew a line down the page. There is one Christian Olsen, age 47. Person you seek would have been 55. Again, the list appears very sloppy. Most of the people's names appear as Norwegian spelling, Ie: Olsen, not Olson,. etc. Reference for Christian Olsen is: Line 1, roll 220, List # 521. I think this refers to the NARA records.
maggi	Thanks, Jo Anne and James, and the rest of you! I'll pass on your information. Best wishes from snowy Moss, Norway.